


kiss me underneath the mistletoe

by pennyfingers



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Christmas!Fluff, M/M, horrible cliche's involving mistletoe: approach with caution, title stolen from JB's song, written for 2011 christmas so girlfriends are not present
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-14
Updated: 2012-12-14
Packaged: 2017-11-21 02:22:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/592381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pennyfingers/pseuds/pennyfingers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time is purely an accident. </p><p>Or: Three times Harry and Louis kiss that involve mistletoe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	kiss me underneath the mistletoe

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of the first things I ever wrote for the 1D fandom, so please don't judge me too much!   
> I was too lazy to go back and nitpick all of it, so there will be errors and possibly time errors since this was written Christmas 2011. I just felt like I needed to post something on ao3, like, pronto and it's the holiday season and all.   
> Was originally posted on my tumblr account -- quitealotofhair.

.i.

The first time is purely an accident.

Christmas spirit is truly abound in London and Harry can’t go anywhere without seeing a Santa hat or hear an annoyingly catchy Christmas song. And, of course, there’s the mistletoe.

Harry doesn’t mind mistletoe — course he doesn’t, it’s given him the excuse to kiss more than one pretty girl over the years. This year, however, it seems it’s gotten a bit crazy though and he’s learned to avoid the plant whilst around eager and sometimes almost psychotic girls.

It’s a few weeks before Christmas and all of the boys are attending a Christmas party hosted by one of Liam’s mates. Harry’s a bit tipsy and a goofy grin rests on his face as he stumbles his way through the party goers.

The rest of the boys have migrated to each other sometime during the party, and Harry spots Louis first — or, more accurately, he spots the bright red Santa hat residing lopsidedly on his best mates head.

“Nice hat,” he giggles as he sidles up to the other four and Louis throws an arm around Harry’s shoulders like it belongs there; which wouldn’t be that much of a lie, considering the amount of time they spend with their various limbs thrown over the other.

The rest of the boys brighten as they see Harry and it’s ridiculous because, well, they see each other practically everyday and shouldn’t they be getting tired of each other by now? But, apart from the days when everyone is just bloody tired, they get along almost freakishly well.

“Merry Christmas, Hazza,” Liam grins, and Niall snorts into his drink.

“S’not Christmas yet,” he protests, and his speech is a bit more slurred than it usually is so Harry assumes that they have all had a bit to drink. Then again, so has he.

Louis and Harry stand in compatible silence for a minute; Harry instinctively leans closer to his best friend as he watches Zayn, Liam and Niall debate who’s the best present giver.  “Harry’s the worst,” Louis interjects, turning his head slightly so he can shoot Harry a wink. The younger boy elbows him in reply, unable to keep a small smile off his face.

“I am not,” he states pompously, sticking his nose in the air.

“Oh, whatever, Hazza, you so are,” Louis grins, and runs a hand through Harry’s curly hair affectionately.

“I’m am not!”

Somehow the small, silly argument evolves to a bit of playful tackling and Louis’s pushed back as Harry shoves him in the stomach. His hand flies to steady his hat, and, with the air of one greatly offended, Louis gasps, grabbing Harry in a headlock. They both stumble as the younger boy struggles to get out of his arms and the rest of the boys laugh and cheer them along. Even a small crowd has formed around them to yell encouragement as they wrestle with one another.

“You’re going down, Tomlinson!” Harry cries, his eyes sparkling with amusement and Louis shakes his head vigorously, his Santa hat precariously balanced on his head. An idea popping into his head, Harry gives a cheeky smirk and, so quickly that Louis doesn’t have a chance to react, swipes the hat and slams it down on his own head. When Louis pauses for a moment to admire him, he comes to the conclusion that the younger boy looks foolishly adorable as his curls poke out underneath the fluffy white brim.

For a second Louis stops, his eyes darkening with something that Harry can’t really put his finger on, but it’s gone to quickly to examine more. “Oh, that’s the last straw, Styles,” Louis calls and Harry’s tackled to the ground, much to the amusement of the people around them.

Niall’s loud shout makes Harry and Louis look up at their Irish friend. His smile is sly, and he points to the air above them. “Look boys, there’s mistletoe!”

Catcalls and whoops suddenly fill the air and Harry can feel his cheeks go pink because Louis’ almost straddling him and they’re under bloody mistletoe and well…a part of Harry wants to kiss Louis, though he’ll never admit it out loud. To say that he hasn’t ever fantasized about kissing his best mate would be a downright lie. In fact, sometimes, in the depths of the night and the comfort of his bed, Harry’s thought about more than just kissing and a hot blush heats his cheeks as he is reminded of this.

Louis straightens and chews on the inside of his cheek as he examines Harry’s face, waiting for a signal of what to do. Harry’s eyes flicker down to Louis lips and then back to his eyes and he gives a small shrug as if to say, may as well.

They grin at each other for a moment — Harry can here Zayn in the background yelling, “Just kiss already!” — and then Louis leans down and presses his lips softly against Harry’s.

It’s soft and warm and innocent and there’s whoops of laughter surrounding them and Harry can feel a thrill run through his body as Louis’ hand comes to rest gently at his hip, his fingertips unintentionally brushing an exposed bit of skin.

They pull away (too quickly) and Niall’s practically on the floor with laughter as Liam and Zayn come over and give them both a hand up and Harry can’t help but lick his lips as Louis’ blue eyes meet his.

Louis’ wide smile flickers momentarily and a warm and pleasant tingling sensation spreads from Harry’s stomach to every toe and finger in his body at the unreadable expression.

As the crowd leave and find more exciting things to do, and the other boys are done taking the mickey out of Louis and Harry, Louis steals a moment of quiet to reach over and place the Santa hat — which had fallen off during the fight — back on Harry’s head. His grin is almost shy as he whispers, “You look nice in this hat.”

.ii.

The next time it happens, it’s Louis who starts it and Harry’s one hundred per cent positive that it’s not accidental at all.

Love Actually is on the TV and Harry can’t concentrate because Louis’ trailing patterns and shapes onto his arm and it’s driving Harry a bit mental. Their feet are intertwined and Harry’s got his head resting on Louis shoulder.

It’s more comfortable than weird, and it’s not exactly unfamiliar for the two boys to snuggle up with one another. Harry can’t help but pay a bit more attention to the burning heat wherever Louis’ touching him then to the movie that he’s seen about twenty times.

“Stop,” Harry murmurs softly after a while, closing his hand around Louis’ wandering fingers. Louis blinks, confused and attempts to wiggle his fingers in Harry’s grip for a moment, as if testing whether he can break free. “It tickles.”

It doesn’t actually tickle — well, it does, but not that much — Harry’s just not sure if he can take the affectionate contact from Louis any longer. It’s been a week since the Christmas party and since then Harry can’t think of anything but Louis’ lips and how nice they are to kiss. More than once, he’s caught himself absentmindedly staring, thinking about what it would be like if he could just lean over and…

“Are you alright Harry?” Louis asks, and the question is so soft and tender that Harry realizes Louis’ noticed how weird Harry’s been acting lately.

Harry, the movie now forgotten completely, nuzzles his face into the crook of Louis neck and breathes in deeply because everything is just so purely Louis. “I have something I need to tell you,” he murmurs, clenching his eyes shut.

Fingernails scrape at his scalp as Louis runs a hand through Harry’s hair and Harry can feel rather than see the smile on his face. “Go on then, Curly.”

“I…I…”

_I really want to kiss you._

Harry bites down on his lower lip, contemplating what to say. “I’ve been thinking…er…about…”

 Louis smiles gently, waiting for Harry to go on. When Harry only removes his face from Louis’ neck and uselessly opens his mouth and then shuts it again repeatedly, the older boy squeezes his arm encouragingly. “What have you been thinking about?”

“Well…our…you know at that Christmas party how we kissed?”

The second the words are out in the open Harry wants them back. Louis’ face lights up in recognition, seemingly oblivious to Harry’s internal distress.

“Oh yeah,” Louis smirks, ruffling Harry’s hair affectionately with his hand that isn’t running through the younger’s trademark curls. “Do you want to tell me blown away by my snogging prowess? Did you realize that you fancy the pants off me? Or,” and here Louis laughs lightheartedly, “Do you want another snog?”

Though the questions are clearly joking and Louis’ only poking fun, Harry can’t help but mumble, almost inaudibly, “Yes.”

Louis’ eyebrows raise immediately, his face going blank with shock. A hollow feeling of regret fills Harry’s stomach, and he wants to just sink into the floor and never look at Louis again. Staring forlornly at the carpet, his cheeks now sporting a deep red colour of embarrassment, he waits with bated breath for Louis to shout and tear off him with disgust.

However, when the older boy opens his mouth to speak it is only to say, “Look, there’s mistletoe.”

Surprised and more than a little confused, Harry turns his head slightly to look, a frown creasing his brow. “Where—”

The rest of his sentence is cut off by Louis’ lips.

.iii.

Louis winks from across the room and that’s the beginning of the end for Harry. 

The third time it happens, it’s not a new thing anymore. ‘Course, they haven’t exactly clarified what this is but Harry’s content with being able to snog Louis whenever they’re alone, so he’s not going to try and mess any of this up by asking whether or not they’re _boyfriends_.

He’s a lot happier than he’s been in a long time, which is saying something as he’s in one of the most successful boy bands of the era with four of his best friends for the past year and a bit. But Louis…well, it’s always been him and Louis, hasn’t it? Even since the beginning of the XFactor, it had always been Louis who made him laugh when he was down, made him feel like he was wanted and loved. It had always been just them. And Harry has a funny feeling that it always will be, whether they’re best friends or lovers.

Niall’s invited them round for dinner that he and Liam have made together – it’s unexpectedly nice – and they’re all sitting in the lounge room, chatting idly after they’ve finished.

Harry’s snuggled in a large, thick doona on the couch, resting his head on Liam’s shoulder and watching as Niall and Zayn fight over a pillow.

Liam laughs, shaking his head in exasperation as Niall calls out, “FOR NARNIA!” and dives on top of Zayn. Harry can’t help but give a chuckle as well — sitting in Niall’s living room, with his four favourite people in the world, Harry feels simply happy.

As Liam begins to call out encouragement for Zayn – earning himself an indignant yelp from Niall – Harry takes the moment to let his eyes flicker over to Louis. The eldest boy, who usually is in the thick of these sort of ridiculous arguments, seems content to watch this time, sprawled out on the floor.

Almost as if he can feel Harry’s gaze, blue eyes flicker away from the chaos of their two friends to meet green.

 _Hey Curly_ , Louis mouths and throws him a flirty wink. Harry can feel his cheeks heating up and looks away quickly, diverting his eyes to Zayn and Niall in an attempt to distract himself.  Louis has a terrible habit of making Harry want to snog him in times where it is most definitely not appropriate.

The pillow fight is solved rather quickly; after Zayn nearly breaks the coffee table, Liam puts a halt to the whole thing by throwing a spare pillow at Niall which hits the Irish boy directly in the face. Normal conversation resumes again and Harry even manages to talk to Louis without blushing for a good ten minutes before the older boy begins to place well hidden (from anyone butHarry) innuendos in their conversation.

Half an hour passes, and nothing eventful happens apart from the usual – Niall farts at least twelve times, Liam starts lecturing Zayn about something he had gotten up to in a club last week and Louis makes fun of all of them at least five times each. Harry can feel his eyes start to get heavy as he begins to fall asleep before a beep alerts him to a text message. He gets odd flutters in his stomach as he reads the name of the sender: Louis Tomlinson. Sucking in his lower lip to hide his smile, Harry opens the message quickly.

_i want to tell the lads_

Harry frowns, confusion evident on his face. The text is curt and brief, and even though Harry reads it back three times, he doesn’t know what the hell Louis is talking about. He taps back quickly:

_about what??_

This time he looks up at Louis and catches a brief look of part irritation and part amusement on his face. Blatantly staring, Harry watches as Louis quickly types back a message, his grin cheeky as he presses send. The beep at Harry’s phone makes Harry look down once more.

_about us. being together. ring a bell?_

Hope, elation and surprise battle for dominance and eventually elation triumphs making a large smile spread across Harry’s face. He can’t even be bothered hiding it, even though he probably should. The doubts that have been plaguing him since they first started making a habit of kissing are suddenly washed away and he has to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing.

_so we’re together then? like…dating together?_

The reply is almost instant.

_duh, course we are. are those curls finally messing with your head?_

For a while longer than Harry will admit later, he sits, staring at the text and trying to contain his happiness. He feels slightly ridiculous and almost like a teenage girl, but he’s pretty sure that there’s a part inside of Harry that’s screaming girlishly with joy. With an effort that nearly breaks him, Harry turns to Niall without letting his eyes even brush over Louis. “Hey, Nialler, do you have mistletoe in your Christmas decorations?”

Niall, who is easily the most festive out of the group, gives a cheeky smile. “Course I do.”

“Where is it?”

It’s the poorly hidden urgency in Harry’s voice that makes Zayn and Liam look at him. He hasn’t yet looked at Louis, though he wants to, to see if he’s caught on yet. Niall, who gives a small, confused smile, points to the doorway that connects the living room and the kitchen. Harry spots the plant instantly and smirks.

For the first time since the text, Harry looks at Louis.

Louis cocks an eyebrow.

Jumping off the chair and letting the doona he was wrapped in fall to the floor, Harry walks over to the doorway and grins eagerly in Louis’ direction. For a second the older boy hesitates, not meeting anybody else’s eye apart from Harry’s, before standing up also and slowly walking over to join Harry.

“Er…Harry…” Zayn begins hesitantly. “What are you doing?”

Turning to Louis, Harry can feel his heart pounding in his chest and can feel the sweat on his palms. He’s nervous, that’s for sure, but more than that, he’s unexplainably excited. What is he doing? He’s falling in love — or maybe he’s already in love. Louis’ smile twitches nervously and his blue eyes scan Harry’s face for signs of reassurance. Harry offers a gentle smile before addressing Zayn’s question.

“I’m doing…This,” he murmurs, and pulls Louis in for a kiss. The kiss is soft and tentative and sweet and Harry can feel a pleasant ache in his chest that lets him know that this is so, so right.

When he pulls away, Louis smiles tentatively at him, licking the corner of his lips in a way that makes Harry feel a little weak at the knees, before turning back to the boys with a sheepish expression.

“We’re dating,” he offers lamely and the two words send a thrill through Harry.

For a second, the other three blink owlishly back at them before Niall starts to laugh and Zayn rolls his eyes.

“Obviously,” Liam states, sighing like an annoyed parent. “You don’t think that we were standing right next to the mistletoe on accident, did you?”

Louis cocks his head in confusion, a feeling that Harry is also experiencing. “Pardon?”

“At Liam’s mates party,” Zayn clarifies. “We knew you guys would come over so we stood near the mistletoe.”

“You just needed a push,” Liam shrugs, not looking ashamed at all. “So we gave you one. You would have ended up under that mistletoe at some point, even if you hadn’t ended up tackling each other.”

Harry can’t help but give a startled laugh and Louis’ cheeks go a flattering shade of pink. “Bastards,” the latter curses under his breath and Harry grins, reaching out to take Louis’ hands in his own.

Louis looks at Harry and his eyes are so big and blue that Harry’s breath catches a little. When he leans in to kiss Louis once more, he’s stopped by Louis stepping out from underneath the misteltoe.

“I want to kiss here,” Louis states, and when Harry shoots him a questioning look he explains, “I just want to know that you want to kiss me, not just because we’re standing under mistletoe.”

Harry gives a little laugh, and takes a step closer to Louis, making sure that both of them were now clear of the mistletoe. “I’d kiss you anytime, Louis, mistletoe or not,” he grins, and finally closes the gap between, their lips colliding once more.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry almost Christmas!


End file.
